Carbon is known to have five unique crystalline structures, including diamond, fullerene (0-D nano graphitic material), carbon nano-tube (1-D nano graphitic material), graphene (2-D nano graphitic material), and graphite (3-D graphitic material).
The carbon nano-tube (CNT) refers to a tubular structure grown with a single wall or multi wall. Carbon nano tubes have a diameter on the order of a few nanometers to a few hundred nanometers. Its longitudinal, hollow structure imparts unique mechanical, electrical and chemical properties to the material. CNT is a 1-D (one-dimensional) nano carbon or 1-D nano graphite material.
Bulk natural flake graphite is a 3-D graphitic material with each particle being composed of multiple grains (or graphite single crystals or crystallites) with grain boundaries (amorphous or defect zones) demarcating neighboring graphite single crystals. Each grain is composed of multiple graphene planes oriented parallel to one another. A graphene plane in a graphite crystallite is composed of carbon atoms occupying a two-dimensional, hexagonal lattice. In a given grain or single crystal, the graphene planes are stacked and bonded via van der Waal forces in the crystallographic c-direction (perpendicular to the graphene plane or basal plane). Although all the graphene planes in one grain are parallel to one another, typically the graphene planes in one grain and the graphene planes in an adjacent grain are different in orientation. In other words, the orientations of the various grains in a graphite particle typically differ from one grain to another.
A graphite single crystal (crystallite) per se is anisotropic with a property measured along a direction in the basal plane (crystallographic a- or b-axis direction) being dramatically different than if measured along the crystallographic c-axis direction (thickness direction). For instance, the thermal conductivity of a graphite single crystal can be up to approximately 1,920 W/mK (theoretical) or 1,800 W/mK (experimental) in the basal plane (crystallographic a- and b-axis directions), but that along the crystallographic c-axis direction is less than 10 W/mK (typically less than 5 W/mK). Consequently, a natural graphite particle composed of multiple grains of different orientations exhibits an average property between these two extremes. It would be highly desirable in many applications to produce a bulk graphite particle (containing single or multiple grains) having sufficiently large dimensions and having all graphene planes being essentially parallel to one another along one desired direction. For instance, it is highly desirable to have one large-size graphite particle (e.g. a unitary layer of multiple graphene planes) having the c-axis directions of all the graphene planes being substantially parallel to one another) and having a sufficiently large length/width for a particular application (e.g. >5 cm2 for use as a heat-spreading sheet on a CPU of a smart phone). Thus far, it has not been possible to produce this type of large-size unitary graphene entity from existing natural or synthetic graphite particles.
The constituent graphene planes of a graphite crystallite can be extracted or isolated from a graphite crystallite to obtain individual graphene sheets of carbon atoms. An isolated, individual graphene sheet is commonly referred to as single-layer graphene. A stack of multiple graphene planes bonded through van der Waals forces in the thickness direction with an inter-graphene plane spacing of 0.335 nm is commonly referred to as a multi-layer graphene. A multi-layer graphene platelet has up to 300 layers of graphene planes (<100 nm in thickness), but more typically up to 30 graphene planes (<10 nm in thickness), even more typically up to 20 graphene planes (<7 nm in thickness), and most typically up to 10 graphene planes (commonly referred to as few-laycr graphene in scientific community). Single-layer graphene and multi-layer graphene sheets are collectively called “nano graphene platelets” (NGPs). Graphene or NGP is a new class of carbon nano material (a 2-D nano carbon) that is distinct from the 0-D fullerene, the 1-D CNT, and the 3-D graphite.
Our research group pioneered the development of graphene materials and related production processes as early as 2002: (1) B. Z. Jang and W. C. Huang, “Nano-scaled Graphene Plates,” U.S. Pat. No. 7,071,258 (Jul. 4, 2006), application submitted in October 2012; (2) B. Z. Jang, et al. “Process for Producing Nano-scaled Graphene Plates,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/858,814 (Jun. 3, 2004); and (3) B. Z. Jang, A. Zhamu, and J. Guo, “Process for Producing Nano-scaled Platelets and Nanocomposites,” U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/509,424 (Aug. 25, 2006).
NGPs are typically obtained by intercalating natural graphite particles with a strong acid and/or oxidizing agent to obtain a graphite intercalation compound (GIC) or graphite oxide (GO), as illustrated in FIG. 1(a) (process flow chart) and FIG. 1(b) (schematic drawing). This is most often accomplished by immersing natural graphite powder (20 in FIG. 1(a) and 100 in FIG. 1(b)) in a mixture of sulfuric acid, nitric acid (an oxidizing agent), and another oxidizing agent (e.g. potassium permanganate or sodium chlorate). The resulting GIC (22 or 102) is actually some type of graphite oxide (GO) particles. This GIC is then repeatedly washed and rinsed in water to remove excess acids, resulting in a graphite oxide suspension or dispersion, which contains discrte and visually discernible graphite oxide particles dispersed in water. There are two processing routes to follow after this rinsing step:
Route 1 involves removing water from the suspension to obtain “expandable graphite,” which is essentially a mass of dried GIC or dried graphite oxide particles. Upon exposure of expandable graphite to a temperature in the range of typically 800-1,050° C. for approximately 30 seconds to 2 minutes, the GIC undergoes a rapid expansion by a factor of 30-300 to form “graphite worms” (24 or 104), which are each a collection of exfoliated, but largely un-separated or still interconnected graphite flakes. A SEM image of graphite worms is presented in FIG. 2(a).
In Route 1A, these graphite worms (exfoliated graphite or “networks of interconnected/non-separated graphite flakes”) can be re-compressed to obtain flexible graphite sheets or foils (26 or 106) that typically have a thickness in the range of 0.125 mm (125 μm)-0.5 mm (500 μm). One may choose to use a low-intensity air mill or shearing machine to simply break up the graphite worms for the purpose of producing the so-called “expanded graphite flakes” (108) which contain mostly graphite flakes or platelets thicker than 100 nm (hence, not a nano material by definition).
Exfoliated graphite worms, expanded graphite flakes, and the recompressed mass of graphite worms (commonly referred to as flexible graphite sheet or flexible graphite foil) are all 3-D graphitic materials that are fundamentally different and patently distinct from either the 1-D nano carbon material (CNT) or the 2-D nano carbon material (graphene).
As disclosed by M. Smalc, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,441 (Nov. 6, 2007) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,982,874 (Jun. 3, 2006), and J. W. Tzeng, U.S. Pat. No. 6,482,520 (Nov. 19, 2002), these flexible graphite (FG) foils can be used as a heat spreader material, but exhibiting a maximum in-plane thrmnal conductivity of typically less than 500 W/mK (more typically <300 W/mK) and in-plane electrical conductivity no greater than 1,500 S/cm. These low conductivity values are a direct result of the many defects, wrinkled or folded graphite flakes, interruptions or gaps between graphite flakes, and non-parallel flakes (e.g. SEM image in FIG. 2(b)). Many flakes are inclined with respect to one another at a very large angle (e.g. mis-orientation of 20-40 degrees).
In Route 1B, the exfoliated graphite is subjected to high-intensity mechanical shearing (e.g. using an ultrasonicator, high-shear mixer, high-intensity air jet mill, or high-energy ball mill) to form separated single-layer and multi-layer graphene sheets (collectively called NGPs, 33 or 112), as disclosed in our U.S. application Ser. No. 10/858,814. Single layer graphene ium be as thin as 0.34 nm, while multi-layer graphene can have a thickness up to 100 nm. In the present application, the thickness of multi-layer NGPs is typically less than 20 nm.
Route 2 entails ultrasonicating the graphite oxide suspension for the purpose of separating/isolating individual graphene oxide sheets from graphite oxide particles. This is based on the notion that the inter-graphene plane separation has been increased from 0.335 nm in natural graphite to 0.6-1.1 nm in highly oxidized graphite oxide, significantly weakening the van der Waals forces that hold neighboring planes together. Ultrasonic power can be sufficient to further separate graphene plane sheets to form separated, isolated, or discrete graphene oxide (GO) sheets. These graphene oxide sheets can then be chemically or thermally reduced to obtain “reduced graphene oxides” (RGO) typically having an oxygen content of 0.001%-10% by weight, more typically 0.01%-5% by weight.
For the purpose of defining the claims of the instant application, NGPs include single-layer and multi-layer graphene or reduced graphene oxide with an oxygen content of 0-10% by weight, more typically 0-5% by weight, and preferably 0-2% weight. Pristine graphene has essentially 0% oxygen. Graphene oxide (including RGO) can have 0.001%-46% by weight of oxygen. The graphene oxide gel, to be described in detail later, typically contains 20-46% by weight oxygen immediately after removal of the liquid from the GO gel, but prior to a subsequent heat treatment. The graphene oxide gel-derived unitary graphene layer or graphene single crystal of the present invention typically has an oxygen content of 0.01% to 5% by weight, more typically <<2% by weight. This graphene oxide gel-derived graphene material, reinforced with a filler phase (e.g. CNTs and carbon fibers), constitutes the presently invented unitary graphene matrix composite. This composite is made by forming a mixture of the filler particles with the GO gel (e.g. by impregnating a CNT mat with the GO gel or by dispersing the CNTs in a GO gel to form a slurry), followed by removal of liquid from the gel and heat-treatment of the resulting GO-filler solid mixture (for the purpose of reducing and re-graphitizing GO molecules). The heat treatment serves to chemically link GO molecules to form a 2-D or 3-D network of chemically bonded graphene molecules of essentially infinite molecular weights, and to drastically reduce the oxygen content of GO down to below 10% by weight, more typically <5%, further more typically <2%, and most typically <<1% (only trace amount if the heat treatment temperature is sufficiently high and heat treatment time sufficiently long).
It may be noted that flexible graphite foils (obtained by re-compressing or roll-pressing exfoliated graphite worms) for electronic device thermal management applications (e.g. as a heat spreader) have the following major deficiencies:                (1) As indicated earlier, flexible graphite (FG) foils exhibit a relatively low thermal conductivity, typically <500 W/mK and more typically <300 W/mK.        (2) Flexible graphite foils are also of low strength and poor structural integrity. The high tendency for flexible graphite foils to get torn apart makes them difficult to handle in the process of integrating them in a microelectronic device.        (3) Another very subtle, largely ignored or overlooked, but critically important feature of FG foils is their high tendency to get flaky with graphite flakes easily coming off from FG sheet surfaces and emitting out to other parts of a microelectronic device. These highly electrically conducting flakes (typically 1-200 μm in lateral dimensions and >100 nm in thickness) can cause internal shorting and failure of electronic devices.        (4) For this reason, it is necessary to apply a protective resin coating onto a surface or on both surfaces of a flexible graphite foil in order to prevent graphite flakes from being released. This resin coating is typically not a thermally or electrically conductive material that is often an undesirable feature in a situation where high conductivity is required. In other situations where electrical insulation or isolation is required, this resin layer can present some issues (e.g. mis-match in coefficients of thermal expansion and elastic constants between the FG layer and the resin coating, resulting in delamination or peeling-off after some number of thermal cycles).        
The presently invented unitary graphene layer itself and its carbon/graphite filler-reinforced version (the unitary graphene matrix composite) were invented to address the aforementioned issues and were surprisingly found to overcome essentially all of these problems associated with FG foils.
Other sheet-like graphitic materials that can be used as a heat spreader or thermal interface material include resin-free or resin-impregnated versions of carbon nano-tube (CNT) paper (e.g. Bucky paper), carbon fiber mat (e.g. carbon nano-fiber or CNF mat), and carbon paper (e.g. made of short carbon fibers). These graphitic sheets also suffer from similar shortcomings as FG foils. For instance, although individual CNT or CNF filaments alone can exhibit a high thermal conductivity (1,500-3000 W/mK), the resulting CNT or CNF paper or mat typically exhibit an in-plane thermal conductivity less than 100 W/mK and often less than 10 W/mK, likely due to the few and poor contacts between individual CNT or CNF filaments, providing insufficient cross-sections for electron flow or even impeding electron flow. Further, the contact between a sheet-like graphitic layer and a beat source is usually poor due to limited contact surfaces between such a graphitic layer (e.g. CNT paper) and a rigid device component (e.g. a CPU in a mobile phone). This results in an ineffective heat transfer between the heat source and the graphitic layer. Additionally, these mats or paper structures, if impregnated with a resin (e.g. epoxy) for improved strength and rigidity, actually exhibit even lower thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity.
Similarly, the NGPs (including discrete platelets of pristine graphene, GO, and GRO), when packed into a film or paper sheet (34 or 114) of non-woven aggregates, typically do not exhibit a high thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity is found to be higher than 1,000 W/mK only when the film or paper is cast and pressed into a sheet having a thickness lower than 10 μm, and higher than 1,500 W/mK only when the film or paper is cast and greatly pressed into a sheet having a thickness lower than 1 μm (which is mechanically weak). This is reported in our earlier U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/784,606 (Apr. 9, 2007). However, ultra-thin film or paper sheets (<10 μm) are difficult to produce in mass quantities, and difficult to handle when one tries to incorporate these thin films as a heat spreader material during the manufacturing of microelectronic devices.
In general, a paper-like structure or mat made from platelets of graphene, GO, or RGO (e.g. those paper sheets prepared by vacuum-assisted filtration process) exhibit many defects, wrinkled or folded graphene sheets, interruptions or gaps between platelets, and non-parallel platelets (e.g. SEM image in FIG. 3(b)), leading to relatively poor thermal conductivity, low electric conductivity, and low structural strength. These papers or aggregates of discrete NGP. GO or RGO platelets also have a tendency to get flaky, emitting conductive particles into air.
Our earlier application (U.S. application Ser. No. 11/784,606) further disclosed a mat, film, or paper of NGPs infiltrated with a metal, glass, ceramic, resin, and CVD carbon matrix material (graphene being the filler or reinforcement phase, not the matrix phase). Subsequently, Haddon, et al (US Pub. No. 2010/0140792, Jun. 10, 2010) also reported NGP thin film and NGP-reinforced polymer matrix composites for thermal management applications. The processes used by Haddon et al to produce NGPs are identical to those disclosed much earlier by us (Jang, et al. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/858,814 (Jun. 3, 2004)). The NGP-reinforced polymer matrix composites, as an intended thermal interface material, have very low thermal conductivity, typically <<2 W/mK. The NGP films of Haddon, et al are essentially non-woven aggregates of discrete graphene platelets, identical to those of our earlier invention (U.S. application Ser. No. 11/784,606). Again, these aggregates have a great tendency to have graphite particles flaking and separated from the film surface, creating internal shorting problem for the electronic device containing these aggregates. They also exhibit low thermal conductivity unless made into thin films (10 nm-300 nm, as reported by Haddon, et al) which are very difficult to handle in a real device manufacturing environment. Balandin, et al (US Pub. No. 2010/0085713, Apr. 8, 2010) also disclosed a graphene layer produced by CVD deposition or diamond conversion for heat spreader application. More recently, Kim, et al (N. P. Kim and J. P. Huang, “graphene Nanoplatelet Metal Matrix,” US Pub. No. 2011/0108978, May 10, 2011) reported metal matrix infiltrated NGPs. However, metal matrix material is too heavy and the resulting metal matrix composite does not exhibit a high thermal conductivity.
Another prior art material for thermal management application is the pyrolitic graphite film. The lower portion of FIG. 1(a) illustrates a typical process for producing prior art pyrolitic graphitic films or sheets from a polymer. The process begins with carbonizing a polymer film 46 at a carbonization temperature of 500-1,000° C. for 2-10 hours to obtain a carbonized material 48, which is followed by a graphitization treatment at 2,500-3,200° C. for 5-24 hours to form a graphitic film 50. This is a slow, tedious, and energy-intensive process. Furthermore, carbonization of certain polymers (e.g. polyacrylonitrile) involves the emission of toxic species.
A second type of pyrolytic graphite is produced by high temperature decomposition of hydrocarbon gases in vacuum followed by deposition of the carbon atoms to a substrate surface. This is essentially a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. In particular, highly oriented pyrolitic graphite (HOPG) is the material produced by the application of uniaxial pressure on deposited pyrocarbon or pyrolytic graphite at very high temperatures (typically 3,000-3,300° C.). This entails a thermo-mechanical treatment of combined mechanical compression and ultra-high temperature for an extended period of time in a protective atmosphere; a very expensive, energy-intensive, and technically challenging process. The process requires high vacuum and ultra-high temperature equipment that is not only very expensive to make but also very expensive and difficult to maintain. Even with such extreme processing conditions, the resulting PG (including HOPG) still possesses many defects, grain boundaries, and mis-orientations (neighboring graphene planes not parallel to each other), resulting in less-than-satisfactory in-plane properties. Typically, the best prepared HOPG sheet or block remains far from being a graphite single crystal; instead, it typically still contains many grains or single crystals and a vast amount of grain boundaries and defects. In general, the PG or HOPG is free from any element than carbon.
Similarly, the most recently reported graphene thin film (<2 nm) prepared by catalytic CVD of hydrocarbon gas (e.g. C2H4) on Ni or Cu surface is not a single-grain crystal, but a poly-crystalline structure with many grain boundaries and defects [e.g., Edwards R S, Coleman K S., “Graphene Film Growth on Polycrystalline Metals,” Accounts of Chem. Res. 2012 Aug. 15]. With Ni or Cu being the catalyst, carbon atoms obtained via decomposition of hydrocarbon gas molecules at 800-1,000° C. are deposited onto Ni or Cu foil surface to form a sheet of single-layer or few-layer graphene that is poly-crystalline. The grains are typically much smaller than 100 μm in size and, more typically, smaller than 10 μm in size. These graphene thin films, being optically transparent and electrically conducting, are intended for applications such as the touch screen (to replace indium-tin oxide or ITO glass) or semiconductor (to replace silicon, Si). However, these polycrystalline graphene films are not sufficiently thermally conducting (too many grains or too much grain boundaries, and all grains being oriented in different directions) and not sufficiently thick for use as a heat spreader in an electronic device.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a graphene oxide (GO) gel-derived unitary graphene layer (monolithic graphene film) and its composite version (containing a carbon/graphite filler phase dispersed in or bonded by a unitary graphene matrix derived from a GO gel), which exhibit a thermal conductivity comparable to or greater than that of the PG, HOPG, or CVD graphene film.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a new class or classes of materials (i.e., a GO gel-derived unitary graphene monolithic and its composite materials) that have the following characteristics (separately or in combination) that distinguish themselves from PG, HOPG, CVD graphene film, flexible graphite sheets, flexible graphite composites, conventional resin matrix composites and carbon matrix composites:    (1) This unitary graphene material, standing alone or as the matrix material in a composite, is an integrated graphene entity that is either a graphene single crystal (single grain only) or a poly-crystal (multiple grains but typically having incomplete grain boundaries). Typically and preferably, with some compression or shearing stresses exerted on the GO and a subsequent heat treatment, the unitary graphene composite has all the graphene planes in all the grains being essentially oriented parallel to one another (i.e., the crystallographic c-axis of all grains pointing in an identical direction).    (2) The unitary graphene matrix is an integrated graphene entity that is not an aggregate or stack of multiple discrete graphite flakes or discrete platelets of graphene or GO, and does not contain any discernible or discrete flake/platelet derived from the original GO gel.    (3) This integrated graphene matrix is not made by gluing or bonding discrete flakes/platelets together with a binder, linker, or adhesive. Instead, GO molecules in the GO gel are chemically merged, mainly in an edge-to-edge manner (forming 2-D giant graphene molecules) but possibly also with adjacent GO molecules below or above (forming 3-D) network of graphene chains). Through joining or forming of covalent bonds with one another, the GO molecules are adhered into an integrated graphene entity (the unitary graphene matrix), without using any externally added linker or binder molecules or polymers. In the presence of carbon or graphite filler particles (e.g. carbon black particles or CNTs), the GO molecules are also capable of acting as a binder or adhesive that chemically bonds these carbon/graphite filler particles together to form a strong composite.    (4) This unitary or monolithic graphene matrix (a single crystal or poly-crystal with essentially all graphene planes having an identical crystallographic c-axis) is derived from a GO gel, which is in turn obtained from heavy oxidation of natural graphite or artificial graphite particles originally having multiple graphite crystallites. Prior to being chemically oxidized to become GO gel, these starting or original graphite crystallites have an initial length (La in the crystallographic a-axis direction), initial width (Lb in the b-axis direction), and thickness (Lc in the c-axis direction). The resulting unitary graphene entity typically has a length or width significantly greater than the La and Lb of the original graphite crystallites.    (5) It may be noted that there has been numerous reports on “graphene composites.” However, these “graphene composites” make use of discrete pristine graphene sheets, graphene oxide platelets, or reduced graphene oxide platelets as the reinforcement phase which is dispersed in a matrix material selected from a resin (to form a resin matrix composite), a metal (metal matrix composite), a carbon (carbon matrix composite), a glass (glass matrix composite), or a ceramic (ceramic matrix composite). In these prior art “graphene composites,” graphene sheets/platelets are the discrete and dispersed phase, not the matrix phase (or continuous phase); these discrete graphene sheets/platelets are bonded and protected by a matrix material, such as a resin, metal, carbon (CVD carbon, amorphous carbon, or polymeric carbon), glass, or ceramic. Iu stark contrast or completely oppositely, in the presently invented unitary graphene matrix composite, graphene is the matrix material that serves to bond, adhere, and protect the dispersed filler phase, such as CNT and carbon black (CB) particles. CNT or CB particles are dispersed in and protected by the unitary graphene matrix. Typically, the graphene matrix is a continuous, unified, or integrated material phase.
The present invention also provides a method or process for producing such a GO gel-derived unitary graphene entity (or a graphene single crystal, including a graphene poly-crystal with an incomplete grain boundary) and the graphene matrix composite. This unitary graphene entity can be used as a standalone layer (e.g., as a heat spreader) or as a matrix material for a composite containing a carbon or graphite filler phase.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a cost-effective process of producing a GO-derived graphene monolith and a graphene matrix composite that exhibit a combination of exceptional thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, surface hardness, and scratch resistance unmatched by any thin-film graphitic material of comparable thickness range.
In particular, the present invention provides a process for producing a unitary or monolithic graphene layer or graphene single crystal (as a standalone material or as a matrix material) from a GO gel. This process does not involve or require an ultrahigh temperature as is absolutely required of the processes for producing pyrolytic graphite (including HOPG) from either carbonized polymers (e.g. polyimide) or using the CVD deposition. The presently invented process is simpler (hence, more reliable), less energy-intensive, and highly scalable.
This thermally and electrically conductive graphene monolith or graphene matrix composite can be used for thermal management applications (e.g. for use as a heat spreader) in a microelectronic device, such as a mobile phone (including a smart phone), a notebook computer, a tablet, an e-book, a telecommunication device, and any hand-held computing device or portable microelectronic device.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a GO-derived unitary graphene entity and graphene matrix composite that exhibit a combination of exceptional thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, surface smoothness, surface hardness, and scratch resistance unmatched by any thin-film material of comparable thickness range.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide a highly conductive graphene matrix composite that meets the following technical requirements (a) in-plane thermal conductivity greater than 600 W/mK (preferably greater than 1,000 W/mK, and further preferably greater than 1,700 W/mK); (b) in-plane electrical conductivity greater than 2,000 S/cm (preferably >3,000 S/cm, more preferably >5,000 S/cm, and most desirably >10,000 S/cm); (c) Rockwell surface hardness value >60 (preferably >80); and/or (d) a tensile strength greater than 80 MPa (preferably >100 MPa, more preferably >150 MPa, and most preferably >200 MPa).